Howard's double-double leads Magic past Bulls

Howard scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Magic
used a quick start to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 109-94.

Howard, who was second in the NBA in rebounding last season and
a member of Team USA over the summer, shot 9-for-12 from the
field and 9-of-10 from the line. He shot less than 60 percent
from the line a season ago.

"We want to try to establish Dwight's presence at the post and
see how the teams are going to try and defend him," Magic coach
Brian Hill said. "Our guys did a fantastic job of finding him
all night whether it was deep in the paint or at the rim in
transition. When you get him the ball deep in the paint, it's
almost impossible to double team him.

"There are just not a lot of guys who can take him one-on-one in
that situation. He made good quick moves and really asserted
himself right from the beginning."

The Magic opened the game on a 12-3 run and never looked back as
Howard and Grant Hill combined for 10 points. Orlando never
really cooled off, shooting 59 percent (35-for-59).

"We shot well tonight and got some fast breaks ... points in the
paint ... which makes it easier but we just have to continue to
work hard on our offense execution," Grant Hill said.

Coming off a convincing 42-point win over defending champion
Miami on Tuesday, Chicago missed eight of its first nine shots
and finished 45 percent (37-of-82).

"This is our fourth back-to-back (including preseason) and we
have played poorly in all four second games," Bulls coach Scott
Skiles said. "We've got a lot of back-to-backs this year and if
that's going to be our excuse, this isn't going to be a very
good team."

The Bulls got within 87-76 with 9:55 to go before Howard dunked
and Keyon Dooling hit a 3-pointer, helping the Magic pull away
for good.

"It just seemed like we didn't have the bounce in our step like
we did last night," Kirk Hinrich said. "Just out of the gate,
our defense was bad and a few stretches of turnovers led to a
big deficit at halftime. I thought we played hard, but they
just had more energy. Many times that is the difference in the
game."

Ben Gordon scored 24 points on 11-of-21 shooting for Chicago,
which had won its last five visits to Orlando.

Chicago shot just 58 percent from the free throw line
(14-for-24). They shot 74 percent during the 2005-06 season.